Revisiting perfection

A few leftover notes from Matt Sergey's nine-inning perfect game Sunday against Gateway:

* Sergey threw 100 pitches. He had not thrown more than 68 pitches in a game since Aug. 21 of last year, when he made a start for Gateway (yes, Gateway) against the Wild Things at Consol Energy Park. Washington won that game 7-1.

* It was the 24th no-hitter in Frontier League history, and the fifth this season (Windy City's Travis Tingle has thrown a five-inning and a seven inning no-hitter), but the first perfect game in the league's 22-year history.

* It was the first no-hitter thrown at Consol Energy Park in a Frontier League game. No pitcher had even come as close as three outs from a no-hitter.

* Gateway pitching coach Randy Martz, who spent four years in the major leagues and has a been a long-time coach, said it was the first perfect game he had witnessed at any level of baseball, "including Little League." Washington pitching coach Kevin Gryboski has seen three perfect games. He was with the Braves when Randy Johnson threw a perfect game for Arizona in Atlanta, and was a teammate of John Halama in Class AAA, when he threw one in the minor leagues.

* Washington catcher Jim Vahalik said he a conversation recently with his father, who asked him if he had ever caught a no-hitter. When Jim said that he had not, father said he had that over his son. He caught one in back in his youth league days. So, after Sergey's perfect game, the younger Vahalik called his father and said, "I guess I have one on you now."

* Sergey said three balls concerned him when they left the bat. One was a ball Ben Waldrip hit in the second inning that was caught by right fielder Jose Dore on the warning track. The other two were hit by second baseman Tommy Richards, and both were caught by left fielder Scott Kalamar on the warning track in left field near the 375-feet sign. One was in the sixth inning and the other was with one out in the ninth.

* Gateway hit four fly balls in the game that were caught on the warning track. No ground balls were hit to Washington third baseman Carter Bell.

* Sergey had a three-ball count on only four batters, including twice against Madison Beaird. Sergey retired him on a popout and flyout. The last three-ball count came against Michael Johnson, who struck out in the seventh inning.

* It was the first time in Gateway's 14 seasons that the Grizzlies were no-hit.

* The game was the last called by Adam Young after four seasons as Gateway's broadcaster. He begins a television/radio job for New Mexico State later this week. It don't know if that's called going out with a bang or a dud.

* The Washington win moved the Wild Things to 5 1/2 games ahead of Gateway for the final wild-card playoff spot. The Grizzlies are currently the first team out of the playoffs with 11 days remaining in the regular season. The Grizzlies still have the schedule helping them, as they play the Greys three times, host the Wild Things for three games over the weekend and end the season with three games at Joliet (34-53).

* After Sunday's game, Gateway manager Phil Warren ripped into his team for its performance against the Wild Things.

"We're lacking serious grit and heart in the clubhouse," Warren said. "That performance was unacceptable to this office and the handful of guys who haven't checked out on the season. We still want to have something to show for all the hard work we did in the first half of the year. ...

"The bottom line is you get what you deserve. Any manager will tell you that luck is a good thing to have, but we haven't had any in the second half of the season. We just haven't played winning baseball in the second half. If somebody watched this series and knew that both teams were in the playoff race, then they would have expected to see more confidence and a better vibe from Gateway. Unfortunately, we have some guys who have checked out for the season."

* I wonder how many people in the ballpark, at game's end, were aware that Sergey's performance was a perfect game and not just a no-hitter?